Wipe off any excess gunk, spray with GT85, whizz cranks/chain/cassette round a bit, wipe chain. Ride bike (or put bike in garage ready for next ride)

Stuff doesn’t stick to it, it cleans, it lubes, yet it’s frowned on (I think) as a chain lube. Why?

Good for me, though I’d also use something heavier in the wet.

I guess it’s mainly a water displacer, rather than a lube, but seems to do a decent job, especially in dry and dusty conditions (ie not the UK).

My experience is that it doesn’t remain on the chain so if I store my bike after a wet ride the chain rusts

Infact it seems like on a wet ride it doesn’t lube. It just washes off leaving metal to grind on metal

In case you waft it near anything that relies on grease or lubrication.. Like forks.. Gt85=death.
Probably pretty wastefull as a spray vs a liquid chain lube?

Its worked for me for 20+ years

Thin innit. Flick off onto your rotors…..maybe.

obviously it is best to apply carefully with the red straw, rather than fire extinguisher style from 3′ away. Indoors, out of the wind, is best too for the reasons above.

It’s also quite useful for fixing squeaky brakes…

Genuine question; what’s the difference betwixt GT85 and WD40? Just brand names?

GT85 is more lubey than WD40, which is just really a water displacer.

They’re very similiar- solvent and mineral oil. GT85 has teflon in it so they can say “Contains ptfe” but I doubt it makes any difference, you could put a drop of teflon in the sea and say “now contains ptfe”

Apparently you can now detect anti-depressants in sea water.

GT85 contains a pitiful amount of Teflon. It’s not really much better than WD40. Though of course it smells nice!

The TF2 Teflon lube is a whole lot better, and is a fairly effective light conditions lube in its own right. It has a whole lot more Teflon in than GT85.

Good chain lubes lubricate properly, and for that purpose, they are thicker, and stick to the chain much better. They can of course attract trail crap which can end up being counter productive if it forms too thickly on the chain. The best thing you can do is to clean/degrease the chain fairly regularly and then reapply a small amount of proper lube.

Depends on what you call “bike maintenance” really as to whether or not GT85 on its own is wholly suitable.

GT85/WD40 – Don’t use it if you have a chain device with hard plastic (polycarbonate?)parts eg. E-13 etc. Good chance it will make the plastic brittle and crack/crumble – due to the mineral spirit base.
http://bythehive.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2013/02/lubricant_summary_web.pdf

i,ve used gt85 on my chains for years, long before it does any harm your chain will have stretched too far any way and so need replacing, alot of the fancy chain lubes are out there to catch the cyclist, i clean my chains once a month and then soak them in gt85, wipe off excess and im good to go, in the winter twice a month, also takes half the time to clean my chains because they are not all shitted up because of the fancy named lubes.

^^^ hard to argue with that.

I find my chain is noisier if I only use WD40, but certainly doesnt affect its life.

Apparently you can now detect anti-depressants in sea water

Because the sea is blue… 🙁

Because it’s not what GT85 is designed for.

What do chain manufactures put on their new chains? Thick oil/thin grease. What do chain manufacturers recommend as lube? Car gear oil, as does Honda for competition off-road motorbikes. Why? Probably because gear oil contains the anti-scuff, and anti-wear additives required for this job.

Incidentally Chain Oil 5 (which gets very high ratings) is rumoured to be re-bottled gear oil at a huge mark-up.

I find it ok, but my transmission does run quieter and smoother with a heavier lube. Also, gt85 doesn’t seem to last too long before a really annoying squeak can develop, normally 3 miles into an all day ride!

I prefer 3 in 1. I think 3 in 1 has a far better chance of finding its way into the nooks and crannies of the chain links, like penetrating into the chain links and underneath the rollers. I think that wd40 and GT85 solvent will evaporate too soon for the good stuff to get in there. I use both. Gt85 or wd40 for cleaning, 3 in 1 for lube. With an exposed drivetrain no lube will be 100% effective as it will get contaminated by dust, grit, sand, mud etc. it is like pouring sand into your engine – it doesn’t matter what oil you use, it is contaminated. So cleaning and relubing after (or before) every ride is essential to maximise chain and drivetrain component life. If you do that it doesn’t really matter what lube you use – even olive oil will work.

WD40 is not a lube; doesn’t even try to claim to be and will strip off any lube that is on your chain. loosens seized stuff at low speed but provides no high speed lubrication and the links on a chain whip round each other at a fair lick. WD40 attracts grit and grind away your drivetrain. It is the rivets wearing that causes the chain to stretch, so to say that a poor lube doesn’t have time to do any harm before the chain is stretched is missing the point. It won’t stretch as fast with a decent lube.

IMO GT85 works, is dry enough not to hold onto grit, but simply does not resist being washed off. To rely on GT85 means constant re-application in the damp season (ie all the time).

I use a sticky lube when I’m feeling rich and 3-in-one the other 99% of the time.

WD40 IS good for cleaning the chain however, and dissolving old grease inside hubs etc.

Makes me laugh on reviews and forums when people complain how hard it is to remove “the sticky stuff that my new chain came covered in” – probably the only time those chains will actually be lubricated is while they’re still in the packet

…and the three-in-one flung onto my rim provides a nice bit of brake squeal that is better than having a bell…the stuff on the tyre is not as useful….

mickolas – Member

WD40 is not a lube

It is, though. I mean, water’s a lube, so it’s not like that’s particularily meaningful, but WD40 is largely diluted machine oil- it makes a good cutting lube and does leave a residual oil coating once the carrier solvent’s flashed off. It’s not any good mind, doesn’t provide adequate or lasting lubrication, but don’t get carried away 😉

mickolas – Member

Makes me laugh on reviews and forums when people complain how hard it is to remove “the sticky stuff that my new chain came covered in” – probably the only time those chains will actually be lubricated is while they’re still in the packet

Laugh at this one then- after a brand new chain lunched itself in about 2 miles of winter riding, KMC recommended I thoroughly clean the warranty replacement before riding, and relube it with quote “a more suitable bike specific lubricant” 😉

So why doesn’t a lube manufacturer market a GT85 equivalent specifically as a chain lube?

Also, that extra noise you hear with a GT85’d chain – isn’t that a sign that the chain’s not properly lubed?

I’ll second TuckerUK, Used gear oil for ages on my CBR1000
Bit messy though.
Other than that on the Mtb I use M*bil 1
Cheers All Kit 🙂

Gear oil would be ideal for the job if the chain was enclosed in a casing (as the gears it was designed to lubricate are). Once you expose it to the grit etc. in our chosen environment it will attract said abrasives and turn into grinding paste in short order. Bikes running in the Paris – Dakar run their chains dry for this reason (chain/sprocket life c.3 days). So you can use a ‘dry’ lube that wont attract as much crap (but wont lubricate as well) or use a ‘wet’ lube and religiously clean and re-lube on a (very) regular basis. I’ve used Rock n Roll Extreme for a while now, and whilst it keeps the chain ‘cleaner’ (i.e less oily and ‘orrible) than say Finish Line wet lube, the effective life of the chain appears to be the same (c.500 miles). YMMV

50/50 used engine oil and paraffin, in a scottoiler, sorted 🙂

I tend to use both GT85 and a pedros ‘chain lube’ especially in the warmer months, through the winter Gt85 seems to do a job.

A bike maintenance session isn’t the same without the smell of GT85 at some point.

Wd40 is 51% white spirit

northwind – I apologise for my lack of specificity. I meant wd40 is not a product that actually be used as a lubricant, in this context. nor would water be considered appriopriate. 😕

as for your experience with KMC, I am slightly surprised and am wondering if they meant ‘a bike specific lubricant that is also more suitable to the application you are using it for’ ie winter conditions. 2 miles is very not far.

nor dies wd40 make good ‘cutting lube’. it makes a good cutting coolant. just to be clarify that one for you.

Gt85 / wd40 aren’t lube.

Saying that, bikes chains are relatively low speed and non challenging things to lube and easy to clean. Most lubes will work just fine!

so what’s Brunox? where does that fit into all this?

So why doesn’t a lube manufacturer market a GT85 equivalent specifically as a chain lube?

?

I had been led to believe that chain links rotated quickly in use. just done some sums based on my road bike – 50t chainring, 12t jockey wheels, short cage derailer, approx 55mm tangent distance between jockeys, 12.5mm between rivets on a chain. pedalling at 70 – 100 rpm gave rotation of a link as it passes through derailer of 130 to 200rpm. not as much as I thought. although in top gear this would give a hub rotation of 290 – 410rpm so in the same ballpark I reckon.

spotted an error in my theory and realised that the link rotation speed as it engages the mech is the same as the wheel speed.

thus: from straight line chain in the lower run, it takes a chain travel of one link to become fully engaged. if jockey wheel is 12t, then this means the link has rotated through one twelfth of a revolution, or 30 degrees. since my smallest sprocket is 12t, as the chain has travelled through one link the wheel has performed one twelfth of a revolution too.

if I spin out top gear at 100 rpm, then my chain rivet rotation speed is 416 rpm. still not massive, but not inconsiderable.

Whale oil, beef hooked on a skewer can they be used as a lube ?

Most lubes will work just fine!

I like lubing my chain. 😯

Mmm, would the “very cherry” make chainsucking more palatable?

Nice one.
And does “FEEL” make a FS ride like a HT?

mickolas – Member

as for your experience with KMC, I am slightly surprised and am wondering if they meant ‘a bike specific lubricant that is also more suitable to the application you are using it for’ ie winter conditions. 2 miles is very not far.

Pretty normal slightly muddy XC- chain sucked up the dirt and chainsucked constantly, twisting links. Found a small pinecone stuck to it 😆 Horrible sticky crap it came with. Went home, fitted another new chain with epic ride on it, went back out- no issues at all. Never really expected to get a warranty replacement tbh so I thought it was quite cool of them to go against the perceived wisdom… “But SHELDON says so!”